Directions

Cut mushrooms in half. Carve eyes, nose, and mouths into mushrooms to make them into skulls.

Place a large pot of water with a generous sprinkle of salt on the stove ready to bring to a boil.

In a large non-stick frying pan melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. When the butter is foaming place mushrooms in the pan cut side down, skull faces up. Do not crowd the pan as the mushrooms will stew and not brown.

Cook mushrooms until browned and caramelized on their undersides.

Flip mushrooms over and cook for no more than a minute. Remove from the frying pan, place on a plate, and set aside.

Using the same frying pan the mushrooms were cooked in, add the extra ½ tablespoon of butter, and melt.

Add onions to the pan and cook over medium low heat until soft and translucent. Do not brown the mushrooms. This will take at least 5 minutes over medium low heat.

Once the onions are soft and translucent add bacon to the pan and cook a further 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic, SUE BEE® Hot Honey, and chicken stock to the pan and continue cooking.

Continue cooking and stirring the bacon mixture until the stock has reduced by half. The mixture will thicken and take on a cloudy saucy appearance.

At this point start bringing the pot of well salted water to a boil while you finish the sauce.

Then add cream to the pan and continue to cook for another few minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and thickens.

Reserve a couple of pinches of parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the finished dish. Then add the rest of the parmesan to the bacon mixture. Stir continuously until the cheese has melted through the bacon mixture.

Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed. Remove creamy bacon sauce from the heat and set aside until the pasta is cooked.

As soon as the pot of water comes to a boil drop the squid ink spaghetti in. Cook as per packet instructions, and the pasta is al dente. Be careful not to overcook the pasta as it will continue to cook when added to the sauce.

Reserve some of the pasta cooking water.

Drain the spaghetti. Place the pan with the sauce back on medium low heat, and add the spaghetti.

Using tongs toss the spaghetti through the sauce. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick.

Add skull mushrooms to the pasta and gently toss them through. Serve spooky pasta immediately with a sprinkle of fresh thyme and the reserved parmesan cheese.